Pager (or paging) systems are known in the art. Subscribers to such systems carry a personal paging unit (hereinafter referred to as a "pager") which includes a radio frequency (RF) receiver for receiving one-way information. For example, a short alpha-numeric message received by the pager can alert the subscriber to call the office, meet a customer, etc. The pager may be programmed to emit a beeping noise or mechanically vibrate to notify the subscriber in the event a message is received. The subscriber can then read the message by pressing one or more buttons on the pager so as to display the message on an alpha-numeric display.
Paging services are typically provided by a paging service provider which has a number of RF transmitting stations for providing paging coverage over a large geographic area. The transmitting stations are interconnected via a wide area network (WAN) which enables subscribers to receive information input, for example, via a telephone network.
There are, however, a number of drawbacks associated with conventional pager systems such as those discussed above. For example, the paging service providers typically charge subscribers a monthly service charge. Thus, in addition to having to purchase the pagers themselves, subscribers are faced with ongoing monthly service charges which quickly add up to a significant amount of money. The aggregate of such ongoing service charges oftentimes exceed the cost of the pagers themselves. Furthermore, even if the subscribers need the paging service only within a small geographic region, e g., within a single building or set of buildings, the same monthly service charges typically apply.
In addition, such pager systems oftentimes do not provide reliable service. For example, the transmitting stations are typically located some distance away from the pagers to which information is to be transmitted. Interference associated with transmitting signals over long distances and through building infrastructures often causes "dead spots" in which pagers cannot receive information. This can result in important page messages being lost or otherwise not received at least until such time as the pager moves to a location which is not within a dead spot and the messages are resent.
In view of the aforementioned drawbacks associated with conventional pager systems, there is a strong need in the art for a system which eliminates the need to subscribe to a paging service provider and pay monthly service charges. Moreover, there is a strong need in the art for a system which does not rely on a WAN based network. In particular, there is a strong need for a pager system which does not suffer from lost or delayed messages due to frequent "dead spots".